Tool sequencing device

Abstract

The utility model provides a tool sorting device. The tool sorting device comprises a first conveying line, a second conveying line, a tool detection mechanism, a caching mechanism, a feeding mechanism and a discharging mechanism. The second conveying line and the first conveying line are arranged side by side and are opposite in conveying direction; the first conveying line is configured to convey the N tools to the feeding station in sequence; the tool detection mechanism is arranged on the feeding station and is configured to detect the type of a tool conveyed to the feeding station; the caching mechanism is configured to cache the first type of tools on the feeding station and release the cached first type of tools; the feeding mechanism is configured to carry the tools on the feeding station or the cached first type of tools to the second conveying line. The second conveying line is configured to convey the received tools to the backflow station in sequence; the discharging mechanism is configured to place the tool at the backflow station back to the first conveying line. According to the tool sorting method and device, automatic sorting of the N tools is achieved, and the tool sorting efficiency is improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of photovoltaic module production equipment, and specifically to a tooling sorting device. Background Art

[0002] When laying battery cells and solder tapes in series, the solder tapes between adjacent battery strings (also known as inter-string solder tapes) are relatively long. If they enter the welding station without any control, the inter-string solder tapes are likely to bend and deform after welding and cooling, easily resulting in virtual soldering of the solder joints adjacent to the inter-string solder tapes on the battery cells. In addition, after the welded battery strings are cut into strings by a string cutter, the remaining long solder tapes at both ends of the battery strings will also warp, which is not conducive to subsequent typesetting and bus bar welding.

[0003] To solve this problem, a current solution is to use large-sized toolings to press the solder tapes on the tail battery cells (abbreviated as tail pieces) in the battery string and the inter-string solder tapes simultaneously, while using conventional small-sized toolings for the non-tail battery cells (abbreviated as non-tail pieces) in the battery string, and the small-sized toolings only press the solder tapes on the non-tail pieces.

[0004] During the production process of battery strings, to meet the production efficiency, the number of recycled toolings usually needs to meet the production of more than 3 strings of battery strings, and the number of toolings on the tooling conveyor line reaches dozens. Before formal production, it is necessary to pre-arrange the large-sized toolings and small-sized toolings on the tooling conveyor line according to a sorting rule that matches the stringing rule of the battery strings, so as to ensure that when the toolings are sequentially loaded onto the welding conveyor line, the large-sized toolings can press the tail pieces and the small-sized toolings can press the non-tail pieces.

[0005] Currently, the tooling sorting is usually carried out by manually placing the large-sized toolings and small-sized toolings on the tooling conveyor line according to the sorting rule, and then the equipment is started. First, the toolings are preheated in a cycle, and then formal production is carried out. Manually sorting the toolings has low efficiency. Utility Model Content

[0006] To solve the above technical problems, this application provides a tooling sorting device, which adopts the following technical solutions:

[0007] A tooling sorting device is used to sort N toolings so that the N toolings meet a predetermined sorting rule. Each sorting position in the sorting rule corresponds to a tooling with a specific type, and the types of toolings include the first type of tooling and the second type of tooling;

[0008] The tooling sorting device includes a first conveyor line, a second conveyor line, a tooling detection mechanism, a buffer mechanism, a loading mechanism, and an unloading mechanism, where:

[0009] The second conveyor line is arranged side by side with the first conveyor line, and the conveying directions of the second conveyor line and the first conveyor line are opposite;

[0010] The first conveyor line is configured to sequentially convey N fixtures to the loading station;

[0011] The fixture detection mechanism is arranged at the loading station and is configured to detect the type of the fixture conveyed to the loading station;

[0012] The buffer mechanism is configured to buffer the first type of fixture at the loading station and release the buffered first type of fixture;

[0013] The loading mechanism is configured to transfer the fixture at the loading station or the buffered first type of fixture to the second conveyor line;

[0014] The second conveyor line is configured to sequentially convey the received fixtures to the return station;

[0015] The unloading mechanism is configured to put the fixture at the return station back onto the first conveyor line.

[0016] Through the cooperation of the first conveyor line, the second conveyor line, the loading mechanism and the unloading mechanism, the cyclic flow of N fixtures can be realized. By setting the fixture detection mechanism, the detection of the type of the fixture at the loading station is realized. Through the setting of the buffer mechanism, the first type of fixture can be buffered when the first type of fixture is not needed, and the buffered first type of fixture can be released and loaded when the first type of fixture is needed, so as to finally realize the automatic sorting of the first type of fixture and the second type of fixture. The fixture sorting device of the present application can realize the automatic sorting of N fixtures to be sorted without manual sorting, improving the fixture sorting efficiency.

[0017] In some embodiments, the fixture detection mechanism includes a first photoelectric induction component arranged at the loading station. When the first type of fixture and the second type of fixture are conveyed to the loading station, the first photoelectric induction component emits different detection signals; alternatively, the fixture detection mechanism includes a visual detection component arranged at the loading station, and the visual detection component is configured to acquire an image of the fixture located at the loading station and perform image analysis.

[0018] Two fixture detection mechanisms with simple structures are provided, both of which can quickly and accurately detect and identify the type of the fixture conveyed to the loading station.

[0019] In some embodiments, the buffer mechanism is arranged on the moving path of the loading mechanism. The loading mechanism is configured to pick up the first type of fixture to be buffered from the loading station and place the picked-up first type of fixture on the buffer mechanism; the loading mechanism is also configured to pick up the first type of fixture from the buffer mechanism and load the picked-up first type of fixture onto the second conveyor line.

[0020] By arranging the buffer mechanism on the moving path of the loading mechanism, the loading mechanism can directly pick up the first type of tooling to be buffered from the loading station, buffer the picked-up first type of tooling on the buffer mechanism, and directly load the first type of tooling buffered on the buffer mechanism onto the second conveyor line. With this arrangement, during the process of buffering the first type of tooling and loading the buffered first type of tooling onto the second conveyor line, it will not cause any impact on the conveyance of the first conveyor line, thereby improving the sorting efficiency of the tooling.

[0021] In some embodiments, the buffer mechanism includes a buffer tray that can move and switch between an avoidance position and a pick-and-place position; when the buffer tray moves to the avoidance position, it avoids the loading mechanism; the loading mechanism is configured to place the picked-up first type of tooling to be buffered on the buffer tray located at the pick-and-place position, and pick up the first type of tooling from the buffer tray located at the pick-and-place position and load the picked-up first type of tooling onto the second conveyor line.

[0022] When the buffer tray moves to the avoidance position, it avoids the loading mechanism to prevent interference with the movement and loading of the loading mechanism; when the loading mechanism needs to buffer the first type of tooling to be buffered on the buffer tray, or when the loading mechanism needs to pick up the first type of tooling from the buffer tray, the buffer tray then moves to the pick-and-place position, thus facilitating the pick-and-place operation of the first type of tooling by the loading mechanism.

[0023] In some embodiments, the first conveyor line is configured to be able to retract; a buffer station is further provided on the conveying path of the first conveyor line in front of the loading station, and the buffer mechanism is arranged above the buffer station; the first conveyor line is configured to be able to retract the first type of tooling located at the loading station to the buffer station, or retract the second type of tooling located at the loading station to the front of the buffer station; the buffer mechanism is configured to be able to pick up the retracted first type of tooling, or place the buffered first type of tooling on the buffer station.

[0024] When it is necessary to buffer the first type of tooling located at the loading station, the first conveyor line first retracts the first type of tooling located at the loading station to the buffer station, and then the buffer mechanism picks up the first type of tooling retracted to the buffer station, thus completing the buffering of one first type of tooling. When it is necessary to release the buffered first type of tooling to the buffer station, the first conveyor line first retracts the second type of tooling currently located at the loading station to the front of the buffer station, making the buffer station vacant, and then the buffer mechanism releases the buffered first type of tooling to the buffer station.

[0025] It can be seen that with the cooperation of the first conveyor line, the buffer mechanism can buffer the first type of tooling located at the buffer station and automatically release the buffered first type of tooling to the buffer station.

[0026] In some embodiments, the buffer mechanism includes a first lifting drive, a second lifting drive, a picking component, and a baffle, where: the picking component is connected to the drive end of the first lifting drive, and the picking component is located above the buffer station; the first lifting drive is configured to drive the picking component to descend, so as to drive the picking component to pick up the first type of tooling to be buffered from the buffer station, or release the buffered first type of tooling to the buffer station; the baffle is connected to the drive end of the second lifting drive, and the second lifting drive is configured to drive the baffle to descend, so as to block the first type of tooling from exiting the buffer station when the first type of tooling retreats.

[0027] By setting the buffer mechanism to include a first lifting drive, a second lifting drive, a picking component, and a baffle, the picking component realizes the automatic buffering of the first type of tooling located at the buffer station, and automatically releases the buffered first type of tooling to the buffer station, while the baffle can accurately limit the retreated first type of tooling to the buffer station, ensuring that the picking component can smoothly pick up the retreated first type of tooling.

[0028] In some embodiments, at least one tooling buffer position is provided on the buffer mechanism, each tooling buffer position is used to buffer a first type of tooling, and a first detection component for detecting whether there is a first type of tooling on the corresponding tooling buffer position is provided on each tooling buffer position.

[0029] By correspondingly providing a first detection component at the tooling buffer position, the detection of the presence or absence of the first type of tooling at each tooling buffer position is realized. In this way, it can be automatically confirmed whether there is a first type of tooling cached on the buffer mechanism, and how many first type of toolings are cached on the buffer mechanism. On this basis, the cooperation between the first conveyor line and the buffer mechanism can be effectively controlled to implement the buffering or release of the first type of tooling.

[0030] In some embodiments, the tooling sorting device further includes a blocking mechanism, the blocking mechanism is arranged on the conveying path of the first conveyor line and is used to block the tooling from moving out of the loading station, and a magnetic attraction member is further arranged on the blocking mechanism, and the magnetic attraction member is used to adsorb the tooling located at the loading station.

[0031] By providing the blocking mechanism, on the one hand, it can block and limit the tooling conveyed by the first conveyor line to ensure that the tooling accurately stops at the loading station, facilitating the picking by the loading mechanism; on the other hand, when it is necessary to buffer the first type of tooling located at the loading station by the way of retreating, the blocking mechanism can first adsorb and hold the first type of tooling at the loading station. Subsequently, the first conveyor line retreats until the tooling adjacent to the first type of tooling to be buffered retreats to the front side of the buffer station, leaving the buffer station empty. Then, the adsorption of the first type of tooling at the loading station is released, and under the conveying of the first conveyor line, it is retreated to the emptied buffer station, so as to facilitate the smooth buffering of the first type of tooling.

[0032] In some embodiments, the tooling sorting device further includes a pushing-back mechanism disposed on the conveying path of the first conveyor line. The pushing-back mechanism includes a pushing-back cylinder and a pushing plate. The pushing plate is connected to the driving end of the pushing-back cylinder. The pushing-back cylinder is configured to drive the pushing plate to translate, so as to drive the pushing plate to push the tooling located at the loading station, and separate the tooling from the magnetic attracting member.

[0033] By providing the pushing-back mechanism, when the tooling adjacent to the first type of tooling to be cached retreats to the front side of the caching station and the caching station is vacated, the pushing-back mechanism can automatically push the first type of tooling adsorbed at the loading station by the blocking mechanism away from the blocking mechanism, so that the first conveyor line can drive the first type of tooling to retreat to the caching station.

[0034] In some embodiments, the tooling sorting device further includes a rectifying mechanism disposed at the loading station. The rectifying mechanism is configured to rectify the tooling located at the loading station along a direction perpendicular to the conveying direction of the first conveyor line.

[0035] By providing the rectifying mechanism at the loading station, the position of the tooling located at the loading station is rectified, so as to facilitate the caching mechanism to cache the tooling at the loading station, and facilitate the loading mechanism to accurately pick up the tooling at the loading station.

[0036] In some embodiments, the tooling sorting device further includes a transverse movement mechanism. Both the blocking mechanism and the rectifying mechanism are disposed on the moving member of the transverse movement mechanism. The transverse movement mechanism is configured to drive the blocking mechanism and the rectifying mechanism to translate along the conveying direction of the first conveyor line.

[0037] During the production process of the battery string, in order to meet the production efficiency, the number of recycled tooling usually needs to meet the production of more than 3 strings of battery strings. The distance between two adjacent tooling pressed on the same battery string is less than the distance between two adjacent tooling pressed on two different battery strings. Therefore, it is necessary to adjust the distance between the tooling carried to the second conveyor line. By disposing the blocking mechanism and the rectifying mechanism on the transverse movement mechanism, the adjustment of the loading position of the tooling can be realized, and the loading mechanism can directly carry the tooling meeting the position requirements to the second conveyor line, so that the distance between the tooling on the second conveyor line meets the requirements.

[0038] In some embodiments, the tooling sorting device further includes a limiting mechanism. The limiting mechanism is disposed on the moving member of the transverse movement mechanism and is located in front of the blocking mechanism. When the loading mechanism picks up the tooling located at the loading station, the limiting mechanism limits the adjacent tooling in front.

[0039] When the loading mechanism picks up the tooling located at the loading station, the limiting mechanism limits the adjacent tooling in front, thereby preventing the adjacent tooling in front from being carried out of the first conveyor line and causing the position deviation of the adjacent tooling in front.

[0040] In some embodiments, a heating mechanism is provided below the conveying surface of the second conveying line, and the heating mechanism is used to heat the tooling when the second conveying line conveys the tooling.

[0041] During the sorting process, the tooling can be pre-heated by the heating mechanism on the second conveying line. In this way, during the production process of the battery string, after the sorted tooling is pressed onto the battery cells, the pre-heated tooling can cooperate with the stringing mechanism (such as a red light box, a laser welding device, etc.) to heat the battery cells and the welding tapes, thereby improving the stringing efficiency of the battery cells. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0042] Figure 1 is a schematic structural diagram of the tooling sorting device in the embodiment of the present application;

[0043] Figure 2 is Figure 1 a partial enlarged view of area A in

[0044] Figure 3 is a schematic structural diagram of the first type of tooling and the second type of tooling for continuous conveying;

[0045] Figure 4 is a schematic structural diagram of the buffer mechanism in the first perspective in the embodiment of the present application;

[0046] Figure 5 is a schematic structural diagram of the buffer mechanism in the second perspective in the embodiment of the present application;

[0047] Figure 6 is a schematic structural diagram of the buffer mechanism in the third perspective in the embodiment of the present application;

[0048] Figure 7 is a schematic structural diagram of the buffer mechanism in the fourth perspective in the embodiment of the present application;

[0049] Figure 8 is an assembly schematic diagram of the first conveying line, the transverse movement mechanism, the blocking mechanism, the regularizing mechanism and other components in the embodiment of the present application;

[0050] Figure 9 is an assembly schematic diagram of the transverse movement mechanism, the blocking mechanism, the regularizing mechanism and other components in the embodiment of the present application;

[0051] Figure 10 is a schematic structural diagram of the buffer mechanism in another embodiment of the present application.

[0052] Figures 1 to 10 includes:

[0053] The first conveying line 1: the loading end 11;

[0054] The second conveying line 2;

[0055] Tooling detection mechanism 3; mounting plate 31, mounting hole 32;

[0056] Buffer mechanism 4: buffer plate 41, buffer drive 42, first lifting drive 43, second lifting drive 44, picking component 45, baffle 46, first detection component 47, first mounting bracket 48;

[0057] Loading mechanism 5;

[0058] Unloading mechanism 6;

[0059] Blocking mechanism 7;

[0060] Pushing-back mechanism 8: pushing-back cylinder 81, push plate 82;

[0061] Rectifying mechanism 9: rectifying cylinder 91, first rectifying plate 92, second rectifying plate 93, first photoelectric induction component 94, second photoelectric induction component 95;

[0062] Crosswise translation mechanism 10: second mounting bracket 101, sliding bracket 102, crosswise translation drive 103;

[0063] Limiting mechanism 110;

[0064] Large-size tooling 100, small-size tooling 200, hollow part 100a, solid part 200a;

[0065] Loading station C, return flow station D, buffer station E. Specific implementation mode

[0066] To make the above objects, features and advantages of the present application more obvious and understandable, the present application will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific implementation modes.

[0067] The present application provides a tooling sorting device, which is used to sort N toolings so that the N toolings meet a predetermined sorting rule. Among them, each sorting position in the sorting rule corresponds to a tooling with a specific type, and the types of toolings include the first type of tooling and the second type of tooling.

[0068] For example, when N takes the value of 34, the sorting rule includes 34 sorting positions, which are the 1st sorting position, the 2nd sorting position,..., the 34th sorting position in sequence. Among them, the toolings corresponding to the 12th sorting position, the 23rd sorting position and the 34th sorting position are the first type of tooling, and the toolings corresponding to the remaining 31 sorting positions are all the second type of tooling. The sorting task to be completed by the tooling sorting device of the present application is: to sort a tooling queue with a random order including 3 first-type toolings and 31 second-type toolings to obtain a tooling queue that meets the above sorting rule.

[0069] As Figure 1 and Figure 2 shown, the tooling sorting device in the embodiment of the present application includes a first conveyor line 1, a second conveyor line 2, a tooling detection mechanism 3, a buffer mechanism 4, a loading mechanism 5, and an unloading mechanism 6, where:

[0070] The second conveyor line 2 is arranged side by side with the first conveyor line 1, and the conveying direction of the second conveyor line 2 is opposite to that of the first conveyor line 1. For example, the conveying direction of the first conveyor line 1 is the direction indicated by the arrow L in Figure 1 and the conveying direction of the second conveyor line 2 is the direction indicated by the arrow M in Figure 1 .

[0071] The first conveyor line 1 is configured to sequentially convey N toolings to be sorted to the loading station C.

[0072] The tooling detection mechanism 3 is arranged at the loading station C, and the tooling detection mechanism 3 is configured to detect the type of the tooling conveyed to the loading station C.

[0073] The buffer mechanism 4 is configured to buffer the first type of tooling at the loading station C and release the buffered first type of tooling.

[0074] The loading mechanism 5 is configured to transport the tooling at the loading station C or the buffered first type of tooling to the second conveyor line 2.

[0075] The second conveyor line 2 is configured to sequentially convey the received tooling to the return station D.

[0076] The unloading mechanism 6 is configured to place the tooling at the return station D back onto the first conveyor line 1.

[0077] The sorting process of the N toolings to be sorted by the tooling sorting device in the embodiment of the present application is as follows:

[0078] Place the N toolings to be sorted in any order at the loading end 11 of the first conveyor line 1, and the first conveyor line 1 sequentially conveys the N toolings to be sorted to the loading station C. That is to say, the first tooling, the second tooling,..., the Nth tooling are sequentially conveyed to the loading station C in order, and there is only one tooling at the loading station C at the same time.

[0079] For the ith tooling conveyed to the loading station C, i is any natural number from 1 to N.

[0080] The detection mechanism 3 first detects the type of the ith tooling to determine the type of the ith tooling.

[0081] According to the type of the ith tooling and the type of the tooling corresponding to the ith sorting position in the sorting rule, the buffer mechanism 4 and the loading mechanism 5 perform the following processing:

[0082] Processing method 1: When the type of the i-th tooling is the same as that of the tooling corresponding to the i-th sorting position in the sorting rule, the feeding mechanism 5 feeds the i-th tooling onto the second conveyor line 2. After the processing is completed, the i-th tooling transported to the feeding station occupies the i-th sorting position, that is, the tooling at the i-th sorting position already conforms to the sorting rule.

[0083] Processing method 2: When the i-th tooling is the first type of tooling, while the type of the tooling corresponding to the i-th sorting position in the sorting rule is the second type of tooling, the buffer mechanism 4 caches the i-th tooling transported to the feeding station. After the processing is completed, the i-th tooling transported to the feeding station does not occupy the i-th sorting position.

[0084] Processing method 3: When the i-th tooling at the feeding station is the second type of tooling, and the type of the tooling corresponding to the i-th sorting position in the sorting rule is the first type of tooling, and there is no first type of tooling cached on the buffer mechanism 4, the feeding mechanism 5 feeds the i-th tooling transported to the feeding station onto the second conveyor line 2. After the processing is completed, the i-th tooling transported to the feeding station occupies the i-th sorting position, but the tooling at the i-th sorting position does not conform to the sorting rule and needs to be re-sorted in the next round of loop.

[0085] Processing method 4: When the i-th tooling at the feeding station is the second type of tooling, and the type of the tooling corresponding to the i-th sorting position in the sorting rule is the first type of tooling, and there is a first type of tooling cached, the feeding mechanism 5 feeds one cached first type of tooling onto the second conveyor line 2. After the processing is completed, the i-th tooling transported to the feeding station does not enter the i-th sorting position, but the tooling at the i-th sorting position already conforms to the sorting rule.

[0086] After the processing of the N-th tooling to be sorted is completed, the first round of sorting of the N toolings is completed. After the first round of sorting is completed, compared with the initial sorting state of the N toolings to be sorted, the number of toolings that conform to the sorting rule at the N sorting positions increases. If at this time, all the toolings at the N sorting positions already conform to the sorting rule, the sorting process ends.

[0087] Otherwise, the blanking mechanism 6 sequentially transports the N toolings that have completed the first round of sorting from the return station D of the second conveyor line 1 to the loading end 11 of the first conveyor line 1 to perform the second round of sorting.

[0088] The blanking mechanism 6 can successively transport the tooling that has completed the first-round sorting to the loading end 11 of the first conveyor line 1, or the blanking mechanism 6 can also transport more than two pieces of tooling that have completed the first-round sorting to the loading end 11 of the first conveyor line 1 each time. The blanking mechanism 6 can adopt various existing handling devices capable of handling the tooling. For example, the blanking mechanism 6 is a number of electromagnetic components arranged side by side driven by a linear drive module or a robotic arm, and each electromagnetic component can suck one piece of tooling.

[0089] Of course, when starting to transport the tooling that has completed the first-round sorting to the loading end 11 of the first conveyor line 1, there may still be tooling on the first conveyor line 1 that is undergoing the first-round sorting. That is to say, the subsequent round of sorting is continuously implemented with the previous round of sorting.

[0090] The sorting process of the second-round sorting is exactly the same as that of the first-round sorting, and will not be elaborated here. After the second-round sorting, the number of tooling that conforms to the sorting rule on the N sorting positions continues to increase compared to the first-round sorting. If at this time, all the tooling on the N sorting positions already conform to the sorting rule, the sorting process ends. Otherwise, the blanking mechanism 6 successively transports the N pieces of tooling that have completed the second-round sorting from the return station D of the second conveyor line 1 to the loading end 11 of the first conveyor line 1, and starts to implement the third-round sorting.

[0091] This cycle continues until all the tooling on the N sorting positions conform to the sorting rule.

[0092] In a specific embodiment, the number of sorting rounds to be implemented is related to the number of tooling to be sorted (i.e., the value of N), and the initial sorting situation of the N pieces of tooling to be sorted. Generally speaking, the more the number of tooling to be sorted, the more sorting rounds are required. Initially, the fewer the number of tooling that conform to the sorting rule among the N sorting positions, the more sorting rounds are required.

[0093] It can be seen that through the cooperation of the first conveyor line 1, the second conveyor line 2, the tooling detection mechanism 3, the buffer mechanism 4, the loading mechanism 5 and the blanking mechanism 6, the tooling sorting device of the embodiment of the present application realizes the automatic sorting of N pieces of tooling to be sorted, and improves the tooling sorting efficiency.

[0094] The tooling sorting device of the embodiment of the present application is suitable for implementing the automatic sorting of N pieces of tooling that need to be recycled during the production process of the battery string. At this time, the sorting rule mentioned in the present application matches the stringing rule of the battery string. That is to say, during the production process of the battery string, the N pieces of tooling that meet the sorting rule are successively loaded and pressed onto the appropriate battery cells.

[0095] For example, when the first type of tooling is large-sized tooling and the second type of tooling is small-sized tooling, during the production process of the battery string, when the N toolings that have been sorted and meet the sorting rules are successively loaded onto the second conveyor line, all the large-sized toolings can be correspondingly pressed on the tail pieces, and all the small-sized toolings can be correspondingly pressed on non-tail pieces.

[0096] As is known to those skilled in the art, among the N toolings required for recycling during the production process of the battery string, the number of large-sized toolings for pressing the tail pieces is much smaller than the number of small-sized toolings for pressing non-tail pieces. Therefore, in order to speed up the sorting operation, caching can be selectively implemented for the large-sized toolings, that is, the first type of tooling in the embodiments of the present application is large-sized tooling, and the second type of tooling is small-sized tooling.

[0097] In one implementation manner, for the tooling sorting device provided in the embodiments of the present application, the second conveyor line therein can be used as the stacking and welding conveyor line for the battery cells and welding tapes in the battery string. Before implementing the production of the battery string, first control the first conveyor line and the second conveyor line to start conveying, so as to cooperate with the tooling detection mechanism, caching mechanism, loading mechanism and unloading mechanism to complete the pre-sorting of the N toolings required for the production of the battery string. After completing the sorting of the N toolings, the production of the battery string can be directly started, thereby realizing the seamless connection between tooling sorting and battery string production.

[0098] As Figures 2 to 3 shown in the embodiments, the tooling detection mechanism 3 includes a first photoelectric induction component. Optionally, a mounting plate 31 is provided below the loading station C, and the first photoelectric induction component is arranged in the mounting hole 32 on the mounting plate 31. When the first type of tooling and the second type of tooling are conveyed to the loading station, the first photoelectric induction component emits different detection signals.

[0099] For example, as Figure 3 shown, the first type of tooling is large-sized tooling 100, and the second type of tooling is small-sized tooling 200. When the large-sized tooling 100 is conveyed to the loading station C, the part directly above the first photoelectric induction component thereon is a hollow part 100a, and the hollow part 100a does not block the optical path of the first photoelectric induction component. When the small-sized tooling 200 is conveyed to the loading station C, the part directly above the first photoelectric induction component 31 thereon is a solid part 201, and the solid part 201 blocks the optical path of the first photoelectric induction component 31, so that when the two types of toolings are conveyed to the loading station, the first photoelectric induction component can give different detection signals.

[0100] Of course, the tooling inspection agency 3 can also adopt other inspection agencies capable of inspecting the tooling type. For example, in another embodiment, the tooling inspection agency 3 includes a vision inspection component disposed at the loading station C. The vision inspection component determines the type of the tooling by acquiring an image of the tooling located at the loading station C and performing image analysis on the acquired image of the tooling.

[0101] The vision inspection component is composed of a camera and a PLC controller, for example. Among them, the camera is located above, below, or on the side of the loading station C. It is used to take pictures of the tooling at the loading station C to acquire an image of the tooling located at the loading station C and send the acquired image of the tooling to the PLC controller. The PLC controller calls the pre-stored image recognition algorithm to determine the type of the tooling. Identifying the target object in the image through the image recognition algorithm is a mature technology in the field of vision technology and is well-known to those skilled in the art, so it will not be elaborated here.

[0102] As Figure 10 shown, in an optional implementation manner, the buffer mechanism 4 is disposed on the moving path of the loading mechanism 5. The loading mechanism 5 is configured to pick up the first type of tooling to be buffered from the loading station C and place the picked-up first type of tooling on the buffer mechanism 4. The loading mechanism 5 is also configured to pick up the first type of tooling from the buffer mechanism 4 and load the picked-up first type of tooling onto the second conveyor line 2. Specifically:

[0103] If the i-th tooling currently conveyed to the loading station C is the first type of tooling, and the type of the tooling corresponding to the i-th sorting position in the sorting rule is the second type of tooling, the loading mechanism 5 picks up the first type of tooling from the loading station C and places the picked-up first type of tooling on the buffer mechanism 4.

[0104] If the i-th tooling currently conveyed to the loading station C is the second type of tooling, and the type of the tooling corresponding to the i-th sorting position in the sorting rule is the first type of tooling, and there is the first type of tooling buffered on the buffer mechanism 4, the loading mechanism 5 picks up the first type of tooling from the buffer mechanism 4 and loads the picked-up first type of tooling onto the second conveyor line 2.

[0105] It can be seen that by disposing the buffer mechanism 4 on the moving path of the loading mechanism 5, the loading mechanism 5 can directly pick up the first type of tooling to be buffered from the loading station C, buffer the picked-up first type of tooling on the buffer mechanism 4, and directly load the first type of tooling buffered on the buffer mechanism 4 onto the second conveyor line 2, thereby improving the buffering efficiency and the loading efficiency of the first type of tooling buffered on the buffer mechanism 4.

[0106] Optionally, the buffer mechanism 4 includes a buffer tray 41 that can move and switch between an avoidance position and a pick-and-place position. When the buffer tray 41 moves to the avoidance position, it avoids the loading mechanism 5 to prevent interference with the loading of the loading mechanism 5. When the loading mechanism 5 needs to cache the first type of tooling to be buffered onto the buffer tray 41, or when the loading mechanism 5 needs to pick up the first type of tooling from the buffer tray 41, the buffer tray 41 moves to the pick-and-place position to facilitate the pick-and-place operation of the first type of tooling by the loading mechanism 5.

[0107] Continue to refer to Figure 10 As shown, optionally, the buffer mechanism 4 further includes a buffer driving member 42 for driving the buffer tray 41 to move and switch between the avoidance position and the pick-and-place position. The buffer driving member 42 is, for example, a cylinder.

[0108] Optionally, the buffer driving member 42 is installed on the mounting bracket of the loading mechanism 5. When the buffer driving member 42 drives the buffer tray 41 to move to the avoidance position, the buffer tray 41 is hidden below the mounting bracket of the loading mechanism 5 to avoid the loading mechanism 5. When the buffer driving member 42 drives the buffer tray 41 to move to the pick-and-place position, the buffer tray 41 extends out of the mounting bracket of the loading mechanism 5 to facilitate the loading mechanism 5 to cache the first type of tooling to be buffered onto the buffer tray 41, or to pick up the first type of tooling to be loaded from the buffer tray 41.

[0109] In another alternative implementation, the first conveyor line 1 is configured to be able to retract. As Figure 2 shown, a buffer station E is further provided on the conveying path of the first conveyor line 1 in front of the loading station C, and the buffer mechanism 4 is provided above the buffer station E. The first conveyor line 1 is configured to be able to retract the first type of tooling located at the loading station C to the buffer station E. Or retract the second type of tooling located at the loading station C to the front of the buffer station E. The front of the buffer station E is located between the buffer station E and the loading end 11 of the first conveyor line 1.

[0110] The buffer mechanism 4 is configured to be able to pick up the first type of tooling retracted to the buffer station E, or release the buffered first type of tooling to the buffer station C.

[0111] The specific process of the buffer mechanism 4 caching the first type of tooling and releasing the buffered first type of tooling to the buffer station E in cooperation with the first conveyor line 1 is as follows:

[0112] When the i-th tooling conveyed to the loading station C is of the first type, and the type of the tooling corresponding to the i-th sorting position in the sorting rule is of the second type, that is, when it is necessary to cache the first type of tooling located at the loading station C.

[0113] In this case, the first conveyor line 1 first retracts the first type of tooling located at the loading station C to the buffer station E. Subsequently, the buffer mechanism 4 picks up the first type of tooling retracted to the buffer station E and removes the first type of tooling from the first conveyor line, thus completing the buffering of one first type of tooling.

[0114] When the i-th tooling conveyed to the loading station C is the second type of tooling, and the type of the tooling corresponding to the i-th sorting position in the sorting rule is the first type of tooling, and there is a first type of tooling cached on the buffer mechanism 4, it is necessary to release a first type of tooling cached on the buffer mechanism 4 to the buffer station E.

[0115] In this case, the first conveyor line 1 first retracts the second type of tooling currently located at the loading station C to the front of the buffer station E, making the buffer station E vacant. Subsequently, the buffer mechanism 4 releases a cached first type of tooling to the buffer station E. At this time, the released first type of tooling is at the head of all the tooling on the first conveyor line. When the first conveyor line conveys forward again, this first type of tooling can be conveyed to the loading station and then picked up and transported to the second conveyor line by the loading mechanism.

[0116] It can be seen that with the cooperation of the first conveyor line 1, the buffer mechanism 4 realizes the automatic buffering of the first type of tooling conveyed to the loading station C and automatically releases the cached first type of tooling to the buffer station E, enabling the first conveyor line 1 to convey the first type of tooling required for the current sorting to the loading station C.

[0117] As Figure 2 and Figures 4 to 7 shown, optionally, the buffer mechanism 4 includes a first lifting drive 43, a second lifting drive 44, a picking component 45 and a baffle 46, where: the picking component 45 is connected to the drive end of the first lifting drive 43, and the picking component 45 is located above the buffer station E. The first lifting drive 43 is configured to drive the picking component 45 to descend to drive the picking component to pick up the first type of tooling to be buffered from the buffer station or release the cached first type of tooling to the buffer station E. The baffle 46 is connected to the drive end of the second lifting drive 44, and the second lifting drive 44 is configured to drive the baffle 46 to descend to block the first type of tooling from exiting the buffer station E when the first type of tooling retracts.

[0118] Optionally, the picking component can pick up the first type of tooling at the buffer station by means of electromagnetic adsorption, suction cup adsorption or clamping.

[0119] The specific process of the buffer mechanism 4 buffering the first type of tooling and releasing the cached first type of tooling to the buffer station E with the cooperation of the first conveyor line 1 is as follows:

[0120] In the initial state, both the picking component 45 and the baffle 46 are at a high position away from the buffer station.

[0121] When it is necessary to buffer the first type of tooling located at the loading station C, the first conveyor line 1 retreats. During the retreat process, when the tooling adjacent to the first type of tooling to be buffered retreats to the front side of the buffer station E and the buffer station C becomes empty, the second lifting drive member 44 immediately drives the baffle 46 to descend to the blocking low position, so as to ensure that when the first conveyor line 1 retreats in place, the first type of tooling to be buffered is blocked and limited at the buffer station E. It should be noted here that when the first type of tooling currently located at the loading station is the i-th tooling among the N toolings, the adjacent tooling on the front side is the (i + 1)-th tooling among the N toolings.

[0122] Subsequently, the first lifting drive member 43 drives the picking component 45 to descend to the buffer low position, so that the picking part on the picking component 45 picks up the first type of tooling that has retreated to the buffer station E. Finally, the first lifting drive member 43 drives the picking component 45 to rise and reset, and the second lifting drive member 44 drives the baffle 46 to rise and reset. Thus, the buffering of the first type of tooling is completed.

[0123] When it is necessary to release a first type of tooling buffered on the buffer mechanism 4 to the buffer station E, the first conveyor line 1 retreats until the second type of tooling located at the loading station C retreats to the front side of the buffer station E and the buffer station C becomes empty. Subsequently, the first lifting drive member 43 drives the picking component 45 to descend to the buffer low position, and the picking component 45 releases a first type of tooling, so that the first type of tooling falls to the buffer station E.

[0124] It can be seen that by setting the buffer mechanism to include the first lifting drive member 43, the second lifting drive member 44, the picking component 45 and the baffle 46, the picking component 45 realizes the automatic buffering of the first type of tooling located at the buffer station E and the automatic release of the buffered first type of tooling to the buffer station E, and the baffle 46 can accurately limit the retreated first type of tooling to the buffer station E, ensuring that the picking component 45 can smoothly pick up the retreated first type of tooling.

[0125] Continue to refer to Figures 4 to 7 As shown, optionally, both the first lifting drive member 43 and the second lifting drive member 44 are installed on the first mounting bracket 48, and the picking component 45 is installed on the first mounting bracket 48 in a liftable and slidable manner and is connected to the driving end of the first lifting drive member 43. For example, both ends of the picking component 45 are slidably connected to the first mounting bracket 48 through slide rails.

[0126] The first lifting drive member 43 and the second lifting drive member 44 can both adopt various existing linear drive members that can drive the picking component 45 and the baffle 46 to lift, such as air cylinders.

[0127] As mentioned above, before releasing a first type of tooling cached on the caching mechanism 4 to the caching station E, it is first necessary to determine whether there is any first type of tooling cached on the caching mechanism 4. In order to automatically determine whether there is any first type of tooling cached on the caching mechanism 4, optionally, at least one tooling caching position is provided on the caching mechanism 4, and each tooling caching position is used to cache a first type of tooling. Particularly, a first detection component 47 for detecting whether there is a first type of tooling on the corresponding tooling caching position is provided on each tooling caching position.

[0128] By correspondingly providing the first detection component 47 at the tooling caching position, the detection of the presence or absence of the first type of tooling at each tooling caching position is realized. In this way, it is possible to automatically confirm whether there is any first type of tooling cached on the caching mechanism 4 and determine how many first type of tooling are cached on the caching mechanism 4. On this basis, it is possible to effectively control the cooperation between the first conveyor line 1 and the caching mechanism 4 to implement the caching or release of the first type of tooling.

[0129] The first detection component 47 is, for example, an optoelectronic detection component. When there is a first type of tooling cached on the corresponding tooling caching position, the optical path of the optoelectronic detection component is blocked by the first type of tooling, thereby triggering the first detection component 47 to emit a signal. The first detection component 47 can also adopt other types of detection components such as proximity sensors that can sense the first type of tooling.

[0130] In order to be able to complete the sorting of N tools more quickly and reduce the required number of sorting rounds, more than two tooling caching positions can be provided on the caching mechanism 4, so that the caching mechanism 4 can realize the caching of more than two first types of tooling. For example, Figures 4 to 7 as shown in the caching mechanism 4, more than two tooling caching positions are provided thereon. Of course, an independently controllable picking component is correspondingly provided at each caching station.

[0131] As Figure 1 shown, optionally, the tooling sorting device in the embodiment of the present application further includes a blocking mechanism 7. The blocking mechanism 7 is arranged on the conveying path of the first conveyor line 1 and is used to block the tooling from moving out of the loading station C. A magnetic attraction member is further provided on the blocking mechanism 7, and the magnetic attraction member is used to adsorb the tooling located at the loading station C. For example, the blocking mechanism 7 includes two blocking blocks arranged on both sides of the loading station C, and magnetic attraction members are provided on both blocking blocks. The two blocking blocks respectively adsorb both ends of the tooling located at the loading station C through the magnetic attraction members thereon.

[0132] By setting up the blocking mechanism 7, on the one hand, it can block and limit the tooling conveyed by the first conveyor line 1, ensuring that the tooling accurately stops at the loading station C, which is convenient for the picking of the loading mechanism 5; on the other hand, when it is necessary to buffer the first type of tooling located at the loading station C by means of retraction, the blocking mechanism 7 can first adsorb and hold the first type of tooling at the loading station C. Subsequently, the first conveyor line 1 retracts until the tooling adjacent to the first type of tooling to be buffered retracts to the front side of the buffer station E, leaving the buffer station E empty. Then, the adsorption of the first type of tooling at the loading station C is released, and under the conveyance of the first conveyor line 1, it is retracted to the vacated buffer station E, facilitating the smooth buffering of the first type of tooling.

[0133] As Figure 1 shown, optionally, the tooling sorting device in the embodiment of the present application further includes a pushing-back mechanism 8, and the pushing-back mechanism 8 is arranged on the conveying path of the first conveyor line 1. When the tooling adjacent to the first type of tooling to be buffered retracts to the front side of the buffer station E and the buffer station E is empty, the pushing-back mechanism 8 pushes the first type of tooling adsorbed at the loading station by the blocking mechanism 7 away from the blocking mechanism, enabling the first conveyor line 1 to drive the first type of tooling to retract to the buffer station E.

[0134] Optionally, the pushing-back mechanism 8 includes a pushing-back cylinder 81 and a pushing plate 82. The pushing plate 82 is connected to the driving end of the pushing-back cylinder 81. The pushing-back cylinder 81 is used to drive the pushing plate 82 to translate, so as to drive the pushing plate 82 to push the first type of tooling located at the loading station, causing the first type of tooling to retract to the buffer station after detaching from the magnetic attracting member of the blocking mechanism 7. That is to say, the pushing force of the pushing plate 82 on the first type of tooling must be large enough to ensure that the first type of tooling can detach from the magnetic attracting member.

[0135] Continue to refer to Figures 4 to 7 shown, two tooling buffer positions are arranged on the buffer mechanism 4, and a first detection component and an independently controllable picking component are correspondingly arranged at each tooling buffer position.

[0136] When one of the buffer stations on the buffer mechanism 4 caches the first type of tooling and the other buffer station does not cache the first type of tooling, the optional buffering process of the other first type of tooling at the loading station through the mutual cooperation of the first conveyor line 1, the buffer mechanism 4, the blocking mechanism 7 and the pushing-back mechanism 8 is as follows:

[0137] In the initial state, the picking component 45 and the baffle 46 of the buffer mechanism 4 are both at a high position far from the buffer station E.

[0138] When it is necessary to cache the first type of tooling located at the loading station C, the blocking mechanism 7 first adsorbs and blocks the first type of tooling at the loading station C through the magnetic components thereon. Subsequently, the first conveyor line 1 retracts until the tooling adjacent to the first type of tooling to be cached retracts to the front side of the caching station E, and the caching station E becomes vacant.

[0139] Subsequently, the second lifting drive member 44 of the caching mechanism 4 drives the baffle 46 to descend to the low blocking position, and the first lifting drive member 43 of the caching mechanism 4 drives the picking assembly 45 to descend to the low caching position. The picking assembly 45 releases the cached first type of tooling to the caching station, and the first lifting drive member 43 drives the picking assembly 45 to rise and reset.

[0140] Subsequently, the pushing mechanism 8 pushes the first type of tooling adsorbed by the blocking mechanism 7 at the loading station C, so that the first conveyor line can drive the first type of tooling to retract. The first type of tooling stops moving after touching the first type of tooling blocked by the baffle 46 at the caching station E.

[0141] Subsequently, the first lifting drive member 43 drives the picking assembly 45 to descend to the low caching position again. The picking assemblies 45 at the two tooling caching positions respectively pick up one first type of tooling located at the caching station, thus completing the caching of two first types of tooling.

[0142] Finally, the first lifting drive member 43 and the second lifting drive member 44 respectively drive the picking assembly 45 and the baffle 46 to rise and reset.

[0143] As Figures 8 to 9 shown, optionally, the tooling sorting device in the embodiment of the present application further includes a rectifying mechanism 9 arranged at the loading station. The rectifying mechanism 9 is used to rectify the tooling located at the loading station C along the direction perpendicular to the conveying direction of the first conveyor line 1, so as to correct the position of the tooling located at the loading station C, facilitate the smooth caching of the tooling at the loading station C by the caching mechanism 4, or facilitate the smooth picking of the tooling at the loading station C by the loading mechanism 6.

[0144] As Figure 9As shown, optionally, the alignment mechanism 9 includes an alignment cylinder 91, a first alignment plate 92, and a second alignment plate 93. Among them, the alignment cylinder 91 is arranged on the first side of the first conveyor line. The first alignment plate 92 is connected to the driving end of the alignment cylinder 91. The second alignment plate 93 is arranged on the second side of the first conveyor line and is opposite to the first alignment plate 92. Both the first alignment plate 92 and the second alignment plate 93 are parallel to the conveying direction of the first conveyor line 1. When the tooling is conveyed to the loading station C, the alignment cylinder 91 drives the first alignment plate 92 to translate towards the tooling along a direction perpendicular to the conveying direction of the first conveyor line 1. Eventually, the two opposite sides of the tooling are respectively pressed against the first alignment plate 92 and the second alignment plate 93, so that the two opposite sides of the tooling are both parallel to the conveying direction of the first conveyor line 1, and the tooling is position-aligned.

[0145] Optionally, the alignment mechanism 9 further includes a first photoelectric sensor 94 and a second photoelectric sensor 95. When the tooling is conveyed to the loading station C, the first photoelectric sensor 94 emits an in-place induction signal, and then the alignment cylinder 91 drives the first alignment plate 92 to move to implement the alignment of the tooling. When the tooling is aligned, the second photoelectric sensor 95 emits an alignment end signal, and then the next step can be carried out.

[0146] As mentioned in the background art section, during the production process of the battery string, in order to meet the production efficiency, the number of recycled toolings usually needs to meet the production of more than 3 strings of battery strings. As is known to those skilled in the art, the distance between two adjacent toolings pressed on the same battery string is less than the distance between two adjacent toolings pressed on two different battery strings.

[0147] Therefore, after the loading mechanism 6 loads the i-th tooling at the loading station C onto the second conveyor line 2, it may be necessary to first adjust the position of the (i + 1)-th tooling so that after the loading mechanism transports the (i + 1)-th tooling with the adjusted position onto the second conveyor line, the distance between the i-th tooling and the (i + 1)-th tooling can meet the requirements. When the tooling currently located at the loading station C on the first conveyor line is the i-th tooling, the adjacent tooling in front of it is the (i + 1)-th tooling. After loading the i-th tooling onto the second conveyor line 2, it is necessary to pre-adjust the loading position of the (i + 1)-th tooling.

[0148] To achieve automatic adjustment of the distance between adjacent toolings, as Figure 9 shown, optionally, the tooling sorting device in the embodiment of the present application further includes a transverse movement mechanism 10. Both the blocking mechanism 7 and the alignment mechanism 9 are arranged on the moving part of the transverse movement mechanism 10. The transverse movement mechanism 10 is configured to drive the blocking mechanism 7 and the alignment mechanism 9 to translate along the conveying direction of the first conveyor line 1.

[0149] When it is necessary to automatically adjust the spacing between adjacent toolings, first, according to the requirements of the tooling spacing, the blocking mechanism 7 and the regularizing mechanism 9 can be driven by the transverse movement mechanism 10 to move to the specified position along the direction parallel to the first conveyor line 1, so that the blocking mechanism 7 can block the (i + 1)-th tooling at the position that meets the spacing requirements. After regularization, it can be directly transported to the second conveyor line.

[0150] As Figure 9 shown, optionally, the transverse movement mechanism 10 includes a second mounting bracket 101, a sliding bracket 102, and a transverse movement driving member 103. Among them, the sliding bracket 102 is slidably connected to the second mounting bracket 101 and is in transmission connection with the transverse movement driving member 103 mounted on the second mounting bracket 101. The blocking mechanism 7 and the regularizing mechanism 9 are both arranged on the sliding bracket 102. The transverse movement driving member 103 drives the sliding bracket 102 to slide on the second mounting bracket 101 along the conveying direction of the first conveyor line 1, so as to drive the blocking mechanism 7 and the regularizing mechanism 9 to translate along the conveying direction of the first conveyor line 1.

[0151] The transverse movement driving member 103 can adopt various known linear driving members that can drive the sliding bracket 102 to slide on the second mounting bracket 101 along the conveying direction of the first conveyor line 1, such as a cylinder.

[0152] Optionally, the tooling sorting device in the embodiment of the present application further includes a limiting mechanism 110. The limiting mechanism 110 is arranged on the moving part of the transverse movement mechanism 10 and is located in front of the blocking mechanism 7. When the loading mechanism 5 picks up the tooling at the loading station C, the limiting mechanism 110 limits the adjacent tooling on the front side, so as to prevent the adjacent tooling on the front side from being taken out of the first conveyor line 1, resulting in a position offset of the adjacent tooling on the front side.

[0153] Optionally, the limiting mechanism 110 includes limiting plates oppositely arranged on both sides of the first conveyor line 1. There is a limiting space for the tooling to pass below the limiting plates. When the i-th tooling passes through the limiting space below the limiting plates and is conveyed to the loading station C, the (i + 1)-th tooling adjacent to it on the front side is exactly located in the limiting space below the limiting plates, so as to be vertically blocked by the limiting plates. When the loading mechanism 5 picks up the i-th tooling at the loading station C, the (i + 1)-th tooling blocked by the limiting plates will not be taken out of the first conveyor line 1 upward.

[0154] Optionally, a heating mechanism is arranged below the conveying surface of the second conveyor line 2. The heating mechanism is used to heat the tooling when the second conveyor line 2 conveys the tooling.

[0155] As mentioned in the background art, before the formal production of the battery string, it is necessary to preheat the tooling in a cycle. By arranging a heating mechanism below the conveying surface of the second conveying line 2 and turning on the heating mechanism during the sorting process, the tooling can be preheated by the heating mechanism on the second conveying line 1 while being sorted. In this way, the sorting efficiency of the tooling can be further improved. During the production process of the battery string, after the sorted tooling is pressed onto the battery cells, the preheated tooling can cooperate with the stringing mechanism (such as a red light box, a laser welding device, etc.) to heat the battery cells and the welding tapes, thereby improving the stringing efficiency of the battery cells.

[0156] The present application also provides a method for sorting tooling, which is used to sort N toolings so that the N toolings meet a predetermined sorting rule. Each sorting position in the sorting rule corresponds to a tooling of a specific type, and the types of the toolings include the first type of tooling and the second type of tooling.

[0157] For example, when N takes the value of 34, the sorting rule includes 34 sorting positions, which are the 1st sorting position, the 2nd sorting position,..., the 34th sorting position in sequence. Among them, the toolings corresponding to the 12th sorting position, the 23rd sorting position, and the 34th sorting position are the first type of tooling, and the toolings corresponding to the remaining 31 sorting positions are all the second type of tooling. The sorting task to be completed by the method for sorting tooling of the present application is: to sort a tooling queue with a random order including 3 first-type toolings and 31 second-type toolings to obtain a tooling queue that meets the above sorting rule.

[0158] The method for sorting tooling in the embodiments of the present application includes:

[0159] Controlling the first conveying line to sequentially convey N toolings to be sorted to the loading station.

[0160] Detecting the type of the i-th tooling located at the loading station.

[0161] Judging whether the type of the i-th tooling located at the loading station is the same as the type of the tooling corresponding to the i-th sorting position in the sorting rule, where i ≤ N.

[0162] Based on the detection result and the judgment result, make at least one of the following treatments:

[0163] When the i-th tooling located at the loading station is the first type of tooling and the type of the tooling corresponding to the i-th sorting position in the sorting rule is the second type of tooling, cache the i-th tooling located at the loading station.

[0164] When the i-th tooling located at the loading station is the second type of tooling, the type of the tooling corresponding to the i-th sorting position in the sorting rule is the first type of tooling, and no first-type tooling is cached, load the i-th tooling located at the loading station onto the second conveying line.

[0165] When the i-th tooling at the loading station is the second type of tooling, and the type of the tooling corresponding to the i-th sorting position in the sorting rule is the first type of tooling, and there is a cached first type of tooling, load one cached first type of tooling onto the second conveyor line.

[0166] When the type of the i-th tooling at the loading station is the same as the type of the tooling corresponding to the i-th sorting position in the sorting rule, load the i-th tooling at the loading station onto the second conveyor line.

[0167] Control the second conveyor line to sequentially convey the N toolings received to the return station, and the conveying direction of the second conveyor line is opposite to that of the first conveyor line.

[0168] Sequentially place the toolings at the return station back onto the first conveyor line.

[0169] After each round of sorting, the number of toolings that meet the sorting rule at the N sorting positions increases. If after completing the current round of sorting, all the toolings at the N sorting positions already meet the sorting rule, then end the sorting process. Otherwise, perform the next round of sorting until all the toolings at the N sorting positions meet the sorting rule.

[0170] The tooling sorting method in the embodiments of the present application can achieve automatic sorting of N toolings during the cyclic conveying process of the N toolings, without manual sorting, improving the tooling sorting efficiency.

[0171] For example, when the first type of tooling is a large-size tooling and the second type of tooling is a small-size tooling, when the N toolings that complete sorting and meet the sorting rule are sequentially carried onto the battery cell, all the large-size toolings can press on the tail piece, and all the small-size toolings can press on the non-tail piece.

[0172] As is known to those skilled in the art, among the N toolings that need to be recycled during the production process of the battery string, the number of large-size toolings is much smaller than the number of small-size toolings. Therefore, in order to speed up the sorting, caching can be performed on the large-size toolings, that is, the first type of tooling is a large-size tooling and the second type of tooling is a small-size tooling.

[0173] In an alternative embodiment, a caching station is further provided on the conveying path of the first conveyor line and is located in front of the loading station. In this alternative embodiment, caching the i-th tooling at the loading station includes:

[0174] Control the first conveyor line to retreat, retreat the i-th tooling at the loading station to the caching station, and pick up and cache the i-th tooling from the first conveyor line.

[0175] Correspondingly, loading one cached first type of tooling onto the second conveyor line includes:

[0176] Control the first conveyor line to retract, and retract the i-th tooling at the loading station to the front side of the buffer station, so as to vacate the buffer station.

[0177] Release the first type of tooling in the buffer to the buffer station.

[0178] Control the first conveyor line to convey the first type of tooling to the loading station.

[0179] Pick up the first type of station from the loading station and load the picked-up first type of tooling onto the second conveyor line.

[0180] It can be seen that by setting the first conveyor line to be retractable, the automatic retraction and buffering of the first type of tooling located at the loading station are realized, and the first type of tooling buffered is automatically released to the buffer station and then re-conveyed to the loading station.

[0181] In another alternative embodiment, a buffer position is provided outside the first conveyor line. In this alternative embodiment, buffering the i-th tooling located at the loading station includes:

[0182] Pick up the i-th tooling at the loading station and place it at the buffer position outside the first conveyor line.

[0183] Correspondingly, loading a first type of tooling in the buffer onto the second conveyor line includes:

[0184] Pick up the first type of tooling from the buffer position and load the picked-up first type of tooling onto the second conveyor line.

[0185] By providing a buffer position outside the first conveyor line, the first type of tooling to be buffered at the loading station can be buffered at the buffer position, and the first type of tooling buffered at the buffer position can be directly loaded onto the second conveyor line. With such a setting, during the process of buffering the first type of tooling and loading the buffered first type of tooling onto the second conveyor line, it does not have any impact on the conveyance of the first conveyor line, thereby improving the sorting efficiency of the tooling.

[0186] The tooling sorting method of the embodiments of the present application can be implemented by the tooling sorting device provided in any of the above embodiments of the present application. For further implementation details, reference can be made to the relevant descriptions of the sorting process of the tooling sorting device in the foregoing embodiments. For the sake of brevity of description, it will not be elaborated here.

[0187] The above description of the present application is detailed enough and has a certain particularity. Those of ordinary skill in the art should understand that the descriptions in the embodiments are merely exemplary, and all changes made without departing from the true spirit and scope of the present application should fall within the protection scope of the present application. The scope to be protected by the present application is defined by the claims described, rather than by the above descriptions in the embodiments.

Claims

1. A tooling sorting device, characterized in that: Used to sort N tools so that the N tools meet a predetermined sorting rule, wherein the tools corresponding to each sorting position in the sorting rule have a specific type, and the tool types include first-type tools and second-type tools; The tooling sorting device comprises a first conveying line, a second conveying line, a tooling detection mechanism, a buffer mechanism, a loading mechanism and a unloading mechanism, wherein: The second conveying line is arranged side by side with the first conveying line, and the conveying direction of the second conveying line is opposite to that of the first conveying line; The first conveyor line is configured to convey N tooling pieces to the loading station in sequence; The tooling detection mechanism is disposed at the loading station and is configured to detect the type of tooling delivered to the loading station; The cache mechanism is configured to cache the first type of tooling at the loading station and release the cached first type of tooling; The loading mechanism is configured to transport the tooling at the loading station or the first type of tooling in the cache to the second conveyor line; The second conveyor line is configured to sequentially convey the received tooling to the reflow station; The unloading mechanism is configured to put the tooling at the reflow station back onto the first conveyor line.

2. The tooling sorting device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The tooling detection mechanism includes a first photoelectric sensing element disposed at the loading station, and when the first type of tooling and the second type of tooling are transported to the loading station, the first photoelectric sensing element sends different detection signals; or, The tooling detection mechanism includes a visual detection component disposed at the loading station, and the visual detection component is configured to acquire an image of the tooling located at the loading station and perform image analysis.

3. The tooling sorting device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The cache mechanism is arranged on the moving path of the feeding mechanism, and the feeding mechanism is configured to pick up the first type of tooling to be cached from the feeding station, and place the picked up first type of tooling on the cache mechanism; The loading mechanism is also configured to pick up the first type of tooling from the buffer mechanism and load the picked up first type of tooling onto the second conveyor line.

4. The tooling sorting device according to claim 3, characterized in that: The cache mechanism includes a cache disk that can be moved and switched between an avoidance position and a pick-and-place position; When the cache tray moves to the avoidance position, it avoids the feeding mechanism; The loading mechanism is configured to place the picked first-category tooling to be cached onto the cache tray located at the pick-and-place position, and to pick up the first-category tooling from the cache tray located at the pick-and-place position, and to load the picked first-category tooling onto the second conveyor line.

5. The tooling sorting device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The first conveying line is configured to be able to retract; A buffer station located in front of the loading station is also provided on the conveying path of the first conveying line, and the buffer mechanism is provided above the buffer station; The first conveyor line is configured to be able to return the first type of tooling located at the loading station to the buffer station, or to return the second type of tooling located at the loading station to the front lane of the buffer station; The cache mechanism is configured to be able to pick up the returned first-category tooling, or to place the cached first-category tooling into the cache station.

6. The tooling sorting device according to claim 5, characterized in that: The cache mechanism includes a first lifting drive member, a second lifting drive member, a picking assembly and a baffle, wherein: The pickup assembly is connected to the driving end of the first lifting drive member, and the pickup assembly is located above the buffer station; The first lifting drive member is configured to drive the picking assembly to descend, so as to drive the picking assembly to pick up the first type of tooling to be cached from the cache station, or to release the cached first type of tooling to the cache station; The baffle is connected to the driving end of the second lifting drive member, and the second lifting drive member is configured to drive the baffle to descend so as to prevent the first type of tooling from exiting the cache station when the first type of tooling retreats.

7. The tooling sorting device according to claim 1, characterized in that: At least one tool cache position is arranged on the cache mechanism, each of the tool cache positions is used to cache a first type of tool, and each of the tool cache positions is provided with a first detection component for detecting whether there is a first type of tool on the corresponding tool cache position.

8. The tooling sorting device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The tooling sorting device also includes a blocking mechanism, which is arranged on the conveying path of the first conveyor line and is used to prevent the tooling from moving out of the loading station. The blocking mechanism is also provided with a magnetic suction component, which is used to absorb the tooling located at the loading station.

9. The tooling sorting device according to claim 8, characterized in that: The tooling sorting device also includes a push-back mechanism, which is arranged on the conveying path of the first conveyor line. The push-back mechanism includes a push-back cylinder and a push plate. The push plate is connected to the driving end of the push-back cylinder. The push-back cylinder is used to drive the push plate to translate, so as to drive the push plate to push the tooling located at the loading station, so that the tooling is separated from the magnetic suction part.

10. The tooling sorting device according to claim 8, characterized in that: The tooling sorting device also includes a tidying mechanism disposed at the loading station, and the tidying mechanism is used to tidy the tools located at the loading station along a conveying direction perpendicular to the first conveying line.

11. The tooling sorting device according to claim 10, characterized in that: The tooling sorting device also includes a transverse movement mechanism, the blocking mechanism and the arranging mechanism are both arranged on a movable part of the transverse movement mechanism, and the transverse movement mechanism is configured to drive the blocking mechanism and the arranging mechanism to translate along the conveying direction of the first conveying line.

12. The tooling sorting device according to claim 11, characterized in that: The tooling sorting device further comprises a limiting mechanism, which is arranged on a movable component of the transverse movement mechanism and is located at the front side of the blocking mechanism; When the loading mechanism picks up the tooling located at the loading station, the limiting mechanism limits the adjacent tooling on the front side.

13. The tooling sorting device according to claim 1, characterized in that: A heating mechanism is provided below the conveying surface of the second conveying line, and the heating mechanism is used to heat the tooling when the second conveying line conveys the tooling.

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